Slow and steady wins the race.
That was the moral of one of Aesop’s fables but it also seems to be the strategy of the Conservative party‘s campaign.
The old tale is about a race between a tortoise and a hare. The furry creature was so confident about his chances in winning the race that he laid down and went to sleep, while the shelled slowpoke plodded along until he passed the hare.
Erin O’Toole has been steady, parking himself in his made-for-TV Ottawa studio for two days a week while NDP Leader Jagemeet Singh and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau criss-cross the country, in a more traditional leader’s tour, planting their flags in ridings by holding rallies and events.
While the hare in the fable slept because he was confident, you could say in this case the hares (Singh and Trudeau) are exhausting themselves trying to reach every riding possible.
There are plenty of pitfalls with that type of plan.
Protestors are frequently at those outdoor events to drown out the message of the day, like Jagmeet Singh’s announcement on Toronto’s Danforth that was derailed slightly by a man with a megaphone and passers-by who shouted anti-vaccine messages in week one. Then there was Bolton, Ont., where Trudeau was forced to move an event because the safety and security of volunteers could not be guaranteed.
Contrast that with many of the Conservative leader’s announcements, which are held in hotel ballrooms that could be anywhere in the country because bland black drapes and Canadian flags are used as the backdrop.
Friday, the Conservative plan to tackle gang violence was unveiled inside Montreal’s Intercontinental Hotel, not on the streets of the city that has seen a spike in the number of gun-related crimes.
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There is a level of control being used to make sure O’Toole isn’t put in a position where an unforeseen circumstance would result in an unforced error, like a protestor perturbing the leader.
Even Conservative rallies are careful.
Most have been held indoors where capacity limits are respected, meaning those in attendance have been invited. COVID-19 screening questions at the door also ensure no demonstrators make it into the hall.
It’s not that they’re choreographed, but they do benefit from limiting the guest list to partisans and people who are willing to follow public health guidelines in any given city.
There have been a few outdoor events that allow for larger limits on attendance, like a rally at the Icy Scoops ice cream shop in Charlottetown, PEI. That rally saw one of O’Toole’s best performances in the last two weeks as he fed off the crowd, which was eating the newly named O’Toole cone (vanilla soft serve with blue sprinkles in a blue waffle cone).
His stump speech hits all the right notes for the screened supporters in attendance, and there is rarely an uncomfortable conversation with those fellow conservatives after the event when he moves through the crowd, exchanging elbow bumps.
Speaking on background, one seasoned candidate said this methodical march was the plan O’Toole laid out last year when there were hints a campaign was in the offing. That same candidate believes that blueprint will lead to a blue win on election night.
The slow and steady approach has also meant there is little “feel” and fanfare to this leader’s tour. Again, you could blame it on COVID-19 and the fact that no leader is allowed to pack a hotel hall, but you also don’t see O’Toole get mobbed by admirers like one might see with Singh and Trudeau.
Perhaps it’s partly because few people really know the Conservative leader, but that also has some benefits. Few already have an opinion about who Erin O’Toole really is, so the Conservatives have been able to cast the leader as a level-headed, middle-of-the-road Tory who is trying to expand the Big Blue Tent.
That’s not to say the Conservative leader isn’t reaching communities and taking risks. On most nights, the Tory campaign is in its Ottawa bunker conducting tele-town halls. Using a third-party provider, the Conservatives cold-call a community or region with a robocall asking if the person on the other end wants to ask Erin O’Toole a question. Early kinks in the system have been ironed out, and the party estimates it reaches tens of thousands of voters with every session.
The party believes those sessions could easily replace town halls in the future because of how efficiently O’Toole can communicate with a community and connect with people, all from the comfort of his Conservative studio.
The other benefit? It keeps O’Toole on his message and on his pace to get to the end of the race.
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